Association for Democratic Reforms. File Photo: X/@adrspeaks
Thirty-one of the 70 candidates elected to the eighth Delhi Assembly have declared criminal cases against their names, according to poll rights body ADR.
The figure is lower than the 43 MLAs in the seventh assembly who had declared criminal cases.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Delhi Election Watch, which analysed the affidavits submitted by all 699 candidates who contested the assembly elections, said the number of winning candidates with serious criminal cases remained a concern.
The analysis found that 17 newly-elected candidates were facing serious criminal cases, including those related to attempted murder and crimes against women.
In the 2020 election, 37 candidates who had emerged victorious declared serious criminal cases.
One newly-elected MLA in 2025 has declared cases related to attempted murder while two others are facing charges of crimes against women.
A party-wise breakdown shows that 16 of the BJP’s 48 MLAs and 15 of AAP’s 22 lawmakers have criminal cases against their names.
Seven MLAs from the BJP and 10 from AAP are facing serious criminal charges.
The assembly election results were announced on Saturday, February 8, 2025.
According to the analysis, the 70 newly-elected lawmakers have total assets of ₹1,542 crore. The average asset per candidate has risen to ₹22.04 crore from ₹14.29 crore in 2020.
BJP lawmakers dominate the wealth chart, with an average asset value of ₹28.59 crore, compared to AAP’s ₹7.74 crore.
Three BJP candidates with assets ranging from ₹115 crore to ₹259 crore emerged victorious. In contrast, three victors from AAP declared assets below ₹20 lakh.
According to the analysis, 44% of the winning candidates have assets of ₹10 crore or more while only 3% have a net worth below ₹20 lakh.
Twenty-three winning candidates declared liabilities of ₹1 crore or more, with the BJP’s Parvesh Verma topping the chart with ₹74 crore in liabilities.
The three wealthiest lawmakers are also from the BJP – Karnail Singh with assets of ₹259.67 crore, Manjinder Singh Sirsa with ₹248.85 crore, and Mr. Verma with ₹115.63 crore.
According to the analysis, 64% of the new lawmakers hold graduate degrees or above while 33% declared their academic qualifications to be between Class 5 and Class 12.
In terms of age, 67% of the winning candidates are between 41 and 60, while 20% are above 60 years old.
Gender representation remains low, however, with only five women elected, down from eight in 2020.
The analysis also highlighted the growth in assets of re-elected MLAs.
The 22 candidates re-elected to the House saw their average assets rise 25% from ₹7.04 crore in 2020 to ₹8.83 crore in 2025.
Published – February 09, 2025 06:45 pm IST